Monthly Archives: August 2013

Remember the old New Jersey Tourism commercials where former Governor Tom Kean used to recite the slogan, “New Jersey and you…perfect together?” Well, in 2013 here in New Jersey, there’s a pretty good partnership between the value of renewable energy (solar PV) and the value of energy efficiency.

We look at it the following way:

The least costly energy (to your budget and to the environment) is energy you don’t use. There are programs available through the NJ Clean Energy Program that offer incentives for you to replace old, energy-inefficient systems with modern, highly efficient systems. We can help guide you through the maze of programs, incentives and products.

For your remaining energy requirements, nothing beats renewables. New Jersey once again has a strong environment for solar. Investments you make in solar will produce returns for you for over 25 years, so take a longer term view of things. You’ll see the value – not only in budget savings but also to the environment. And telling everyone what you’re doing to help preserve our environment is also good business.

Many of us while growing up were told something to this effect by our parents… ”don’t just sit there and complain…go do something about it.” Apply that to the cost of energy here in New Jersey.

August 23, 2013. DEPTFORD TWP. — Gloucester County College and the Gloucester County Institute of Technology will be the main beneficiaries of a new solar energy project that was announced by the county freeholders Thursday.

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held at the edge of a 12-acre field adjacent to the Gloucester County College parking lot, which will be the location of a solar field generating 3.7 million kilowatt hours of energy each year when construction is completed in December.
In addition to the GCC project, a 603 kilowatt hour per year roof system is being installed on the roof at GCIT.

“This project is so simple … and it’s so elegant at the same time,” Freeholder Lyman Barnes said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “It creates some jobs. It keeps people working. It saves money, it saves the environment and it promotes education. I can’t think of a more perfect mix of what we want to put together in a project.”

The project is being funded by Marina Energy — which will be able to take advantage of federal tax energy credits and Solar Renewable Energy Certificates — while it provides energy resources for the two educational establishments.

The schools will own their solar panel systems after 15 years for $1 and in the interim, they are expected to save about $190,000 per year on energy costs.

“This is not going to cost the taxpayers of Gloucester County a cent. It’s not going to cost the Institute of Technology or the college a cent and in a 15-year period we will realize about $2.1 million in energy cost savings,” said Freeholder Director Bob Damminger.

“It makes sense and it works,” added State Senate President Steve Sweeney. “This is what we’re supposed to be doing — creating economic development, saving taxpayer money … This is something that’s real.”

Gloucester County College is planning to utilize the solar system as an educational tool as well as a cost-saving one.

The school’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program will be using the system to give its students a chance to work hands-on with them, calculating savings, studying design and learning about a growing part of the engineering field — green energy.

“This represents an outstanding opportunity to our students to become engaged in the fields on environmental science, environmental engineering, sustainability and several other go-green initiatives,” said Brenden Rickards, the Dean of GCC’s STEM program. “We look forward to fully utilizing these solar fields for many outstanding education opportunities.”

Construction is expected to begin next week and to be completed by the end of the year.

DEPTFORD TWP, NJ (August 01, 2013)—Over the last six years, the solar array on the roof tops of the equipment storage building and offices of Ray Angelini, Inc. (RAI) here has generated clean electricity, day in and day out, summer and winter, year after year, and recently reached a milestone by generating over one million kilowatt hours of electricity—carbon free.
A regional leader in the renewable energy and electrical contracting fields—NJBIZ magazine recently named RAI as the largest solar provider in NJ—RAI Founder and President Ray Angelini is not only a businessman, but also an environmentalist.

“Striving to reduce negative impacts on our environment has been a personal goal for me,” said RAI President Ray Angelini. “So helping other commercial business owners reduce their carbon footprint makes a whole lot of sense.”

Angelini established RAI in 1974 as an electrical contracting firm. In 2004, contemplating his firm’s potential role in the region’s emerging solar industry, Angelini believed that if he was to sell clients a system that used solar as a renewable energy source, he, too, should be an owner of a solar array. He invested over $1 million and constructed the system. Today, potential solar clients tour RAI facilities to view the array and learn about the system.

“We provide solutions not only for your electrical needs, but also for your energy needs,” says Angelini. In 2008, RAI built the largest single-roof power array installation in the country at the time for the Atlantic City Convention Center. More recently, RAI designed, built, and installed solar arrays for Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, NJ; CHOP, Philadelphia, PA; Lincoln Financial Field—home of the Philadelphia Eagles, Williams Sonoma, South Brunswick, NJ; the Government Services Administration’s (GSA) Veteran’s Administration Center, Philadelphia, PA; Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA; the headquarters of glass manufacturer J.E. Berkowitz LP, Pedricktown, NJ; Gloucester County College, Sewell, NJ; and many public school systems across the region.

For years, the solar array at RAI produced all of the electricity required to operate the company’s headquarters. However, business growth led to the need for additional buildings at the headquarters location and increased electricity usage. Therefore, Angelini plans to build another solar rooftop array on one of the additions.

To learn more about Ray Angelini, Inc., please visit www.raiservices.com or call the Sewell, NJ headquarters at 856-228-5566.